Nick McDonald, a former NCAA Division II All-American left tackle at Grand Valley State, had planned to enlist in the Marine Corps and looked forward to serving in Afghanistan or the Middle East if he failed to earn a spot on an NFL roster last summer. He ended up sticking with the Green Bay Packers all season.

Now, he’ll make a trip to the Middle East as a Super Bowl champion.

McDonald is part of a group from the Packers that departed this morning on a 10-day tour of U.S. military installations in the Persian Gulf region to spend time with troops on a Navy-sponsored trip.

“I’m so excited,” McDonald said. “Some of the guys were like, ‘Why are you going there? We just won the Super Bowl.’ I was an Army brat growing up, so I’m pumped for this.

“My best friend and teammate in college, Doug Neumeyer, and I talked about joining the Marines together. He ended up doing it. He’s just finishing up his first tour of Afghanistan and he’s been there for almost a year,” McDonald added. “It’s an honor and a privilege for me to be able to hang out with our soldiers.”

It’s a trip McDonald said he thought might get postponed.

The original departure date for the tour had been Jan. 29, but the Packers’ remarkable postseason run — becoming the first No. 6 playoff seed in the NFC to win the Super Bowl — put things on hold.

“It was planned in the middle of the season,” McDonald said. “We were supposed to leave late last month, but we kept winning, so the Navy kept pushing it back. I thought they might even cancel it, but it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’re going over there as Super Bowl champs. (The troops) get to be a part of it.”

The group of Packers making the trip includes rookie free-agent linebacker Frank Zombo, a former Central Michigan University standout, defensive backs Jarrett Bush and Derrick Martin, former player William Henderson, head trainer Pepper Burruss and assistant equipment manager Tom Bakken.

McDonald and Zombo, high school teammates at Sterling Heights Stevenson, made the Packers’ roster as undrafted free agents. Zombo won a starting job in training camp, while McDonald earned claimed a roster spot as a backup on the offensive line, although he did not play in the 16-game regular season or the playoffs.

The trip to the Middle East, which McDonald said is expected to include two days aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, puts the exclamation point on an unforgettable rookie season in the NFL.

“It’s a dream come true,” McDonald said. “Everybody was hugging on the sideline when we won the Super Bowl. Confetti was falling. I got to hold the Lombardi Trophy on the bus after the game. It was unbelievable. I won a couple of (national) championships at Grand Valley, but nothing compares to this.

“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” he said of being part of a Super Bowl winner. “It will when I get that championship ring.”